Tag: Kenneth Ma 馬國明

I saw it earlier already but didn’t put one up. After getting rid of the headache already, I’m in a celebrating mood.
Congrats to Wayne Lai for winning the 3rd time as ‘Best Actor’!
Also, congrats to Kenneth and Kate for winning the ‘Favorite Characters Awards’! When I saw their names, I automatically thought of Speech of Silence, which was funny. But pretty cool!
Oh yeah, Oscar and Mandy won for ‘most improved’ artists. (Though I felt they were fine before too SO I never get some of the winners for these categories as much. But that’s just me.)
Last BUT not least, a major “YAY!” for “When Heaven Burns” winning the best series!
(*NOTE*: I seriously don’t care IF anyone got ripped off or not. Trying to celebrate for my favorites here SO if you have any beef with TVB, don’t take it out on me. And wow, I just rhymed, lol.)

The series itself was unexpectedly good. Although many still complained about Kate’s acting, but I think she had really gone far from her previous dramas. There had been traces of her improvement in several dramas already but this one was by far her best performance. She was able to express her emotions mostly through her eye contacts and interactions with Kenneth and the other actors and actresses around her, considering how her character–Tong Tong–was deaf and could only use actions and her eyes, facial expressions, and voice to express herself. It was really touching especially toward the last five episodes of the series. Things were going up and down and we as the audience thought it was just another happy ending where Tong Tong’s hearing would be restored again but no it didn’t. She had to learn to live with another disappointment after the unsuccessful surgery and go on with her life, appreciating other things around her and the people in it. It was really nice to see her bravely face it after many failures. It was even more meaningful than just watching just another one of those perfect endings. It was a semi-happy ending but still a satisfied one. Definitely liked both Kenneth and Kate’s performances in here. I was really touched by their interactions. Kenneth had really gone far as well since he was WAY better than his days in The Driving Power and previous series before that.

Other things aside, I really liked the fact that Ga Ji didn’t go all the way with Herbert and actually still didn’t lose herself totally but only suffered an embarrassment. I really loved watching her and Cheung Yau bicker on an ongoing process. It was so funny to see how he bullied Herbert back in the end for going after his girl, lol. Still great to see that things turned out all right in the end toward family and friends–NOT too gift-wrapped although it still felt that way. But it was all right since Cheung Yau was really funny and probably didn’t hold grudges if the other party already realized it. I thought Elaine had really improved since her days of Hearts of Fencing although it seemed so late. I have seen her improvements in the several last series she was in but didn’t really recognize her until now that I checked up on her profile again and realized she was in HOF. But still, better late than never since she seemed more natural than before in her playful scenes instead of somewhat awkward performances like in HOF. Lai Lok Yi–unlike many I heard say about him–seemed still good as always like his days in HOF because he managed to deliver every single one of his characters well–whether in comedic roles as this one or an honest person or a cunning person even, etc.

Claire Yiu’s performance in here was really brilliant also. I really liked her character despite the fact that she sort of went the selfish way toward the end. It was really understandable and I don’t blame her. She actually revealed the truth in the end since she realized how much Tong Tong was willing to sacrifice for her. Claire Yiu was probably the second lead in here (in my opinion) and I think she should receive more roles like these so it would be up to her talent.

It wouldn’t be a comedy in the end if there wasn’t the whole drama with Seung Fung and his wife. It was way too funny to add that part. He had to learn his wrongs so he would know better than act stuck up in the future.

Really liked this series as an overall with tons of touching scenes mixed in with drama among families and comedy as well.

Phew! That was quite nerve-racking toward the end. The last few episodes were the most worth-watching than some other parts. The brain schemes and other double-crossing matters were what filled up the rest of the time. Not to mention how Szeto Luen Fai and his daughter turned out all right in the end. Thanks so much to Wing Shan for having such a kind heart, causing a turn of events. Not to mention the last few scenes of Chong made him worth the main character! Great set up between Chong, Janet, and Yu Ju near the end, causing things to turn out perfectly awesome. Bits of here and there with Yu Bo sacrificing herself for her family was quite touching and worth brownie points. Also funny but cute parts between her and Yuk Lun. There was also great scenes of Siu Tim and Wing Shan also. Quite touching with the whole mother-son relationship between Wing Shan and the little boy. So glad the ending didn’t turn out too lame. Cause and effects were applied and weren’t as forced. Not a bad series that was both entertaining and somewhat nerve-racking within the stock market battles. Learned a lot although most were quite exaggerated. Still not bad at all.

Acting/ Performances:

Kiki Sheung as Cheung Yu Ju was just both hilarious and witty. Although she let the fame get to her head in the turn of events, she soon learned from her mistakes and repented herself. Kiki portrayed the character really well–from scenes where she was really nice to slightly arrogant, back to the kind person that she was again. Must say her acting rocks big time versus when she was younger. Very lively and convincing.

Michael Tse as Wong Chi Chong was quite interesting. On the surface, Chong seemed to be the weak and/or unintelligent kind, but he was very smart and was just a kind person who didn’t want to harm others around him. He was a very straight-forward guy and didn’t back down even if the other person was of a higher authority figure. He was very brave in that sense. Michael Tse managed to bring out the character also and he has always been a great actor so no doubt about him. There were also funny side stories, which he portrayed really well in those scenes.

The chemistry between Michael and Kiki were quite odd at first, but it was all right and flowing later since according to the plot, they were an odd pair. Besides, they were quite a team and convincing enough for this type of story. Their interactions were funny and natural towards each other.

Joyce Tang as Janet. Her character seemed like nothing special for the majority of the series, but she was very clever and was the brain for the majority of Ding Siu Ging’s stock market wins. She had the capability to go beyond her skills, but could still distinguish between right and wrong thus always persuading Ding Siu Ging not to harm others for his benefit. Luckily, she managed to withdraw from it in time. Joyce has come a long way and I honestly think she’s one of those that have improved a lot since her first series. She used to exaggerate her characters, making it unbearable, but now she could control her expressions and delivered quite a performance. She really brought out the depth of Janet’s characters–different phases Janet went through, struggles with her father and her loneliness, etc. It was really great watching her.

Savio Tsang and Angela Tong – Quite a hilarious pair and I think this was one of the better roles for both although they seemed like odd characters, there were different levels to their characters–unlike usual typical characters. Savio’s actually wasn’t that classy compared to some of his other roles, but he did quite well with it. It was so convincing that I thought he was really those kind. It was also touching how he changed his bad habits for Yu Bo in the end. And also that through him, Yu Bo knew how to cherish the people around her.

Ellesmere Choi and Toby Leung – Not bad at all. Not sure if I’ve watched other performances of Toby Leung but she wasn’t bad at all as Wing Shan. The scenes between her and her son were very touching; and she managed to deliver out the parts with how she almost went psycho because she lost her son, etc. Her chemistry between Ellesmere wasn’t bad either. I think this was also one of Ellesmere’s better roles although he played more classy roles than this. This role’s depth was worth more than the exterior of others. It could help bring out his performance more than just wear a suit and deliver some lines.

Loved Law Lok Lam as always although he played the hateful rich dude Szeto Luen Fai for the majority of the series. But he did care about his family and would protect them no matter what. He also knew who was good to him and who wasn’t–thus leading him to finally stopping after knowing Wing Shan had a great heart for saving him although she could have died herself because of the situation. His willingness to change was really convincing and Law Lok Lam once again delivered a brilliant performance.

Rain Lau – She’s really getting better at the comedy acts and isn’t going overboard with her comedic scenes like the old days. It was really great to watch her in recent series so no complaints.

Mary Hon and the rest of the veteran cast were great also with making everything seemed lively and convincing for the plot itself.

It was a decent series overall with a mix of humor and intensity among the stock-market as well as daily life people bonding together in times of need.

I must give this series a solid 5 on my scale. It was soooo good. The fact that the beginning to the end was so fast pace and the fact that it actually wrapped up quite well was good too. One of the rare TVB series that was so well written in recent years. Every one of the cast seemed to do really well also, which was amazing. Yes, there were some cliche parts here and there, but there were some of the most unexpected parts happening too. I was hesitant to watch it at first because I was so afraid that some cast might ruin it or wasn’t up to the part, dragging the series down, but several people surprised me totally.

What I like about this series:

Steven Ma and Bernice Liu – This was before Steps but we could see that they definitely have chemistry as lovers as well as a team. Their characters always meet wit-per-wit so it was really interesting to watch in general. Steven was very clever as Chi Ko (Ken) the lawyer. Bernice Liu’s character, Wing, was a surprise since she was supposed to be a psychologist but it turned out she was a cop. That was a great twist also. Her moves were great with the kick and all. She did look like a cop.

Ron Ng and Kate Tsui – Surprisingly, both improved from their previous performances. What was even more surprising was Ron was actually impressive in his role. Although he still needs work, I think I wasn’t prepared to see him perform so well, so natural and not exaggerating or too woody like past series. (The reason why I want to avoid watching him as much as possible in the past.) But this was totally different. Kate is really working hard nowadays and deserves some kind of recognition for her improvement. Their chemistry wasn’t bad at all either. At first, I wasn’t all for the idea but was surprised. Such a tragic that Ron had to die at the end. It was a shocker since there was only about 30 minutes more until the series ended. The scene where Kate cried so hard after they discovered the body was very touching and Kate really brought the scene out. It was such a heartbreaking scene. I think she did even better in this scene versus when Kenneth’s character died.

Law Lok Lam and Ron Ng as father and son – Although they were not really father and son, Leo still respected and treated Chin Pang like his father. Too bad they had to meet the same fate in the end.

Michelle Yim was really good as the villain with some psycho obstacles of her own whenever she felt threatened. It was a great choice to cast her as Kam Chi because she outshone Elliot Yue and convinced the audience that she was the only villain and that she was the leader, instead of Elliot’s character, Chin Lung.

Shirley Yeung – Yes, she was an annoying villain–very manipulative and probably even more hateful than Michelle Yim’s character, but I must admit her character played a very important role in causing many ruptures between different characters, especially Kam Chi and Chin Lung. It was a surprise also that Shirley could play such a role also, aside from her annoying spoiled roles or cute, funny ones. (Possibly due to pointers from Michelle Yim?)

Steven and Kenneth as best friends – Great to see them together as buddies at the beginning, joking and laughing together. Not to mention being there for each other at harsh times.

Mary Hon – She finally got a role worth praising again although her character sacrificed a lot. Luckily, everything turned out all right in the end.

Yoyo Chen as Steven’s step-sister – The fact that she was annoying for the first few episodes was just a start, but the turning point was really great and not fake since it took such a gunfight/massacre for her to realize the importance of family. It was also interesting to see the shift in expression–both eyes and face–how she was so mean and nasty at the beginning and nice and calm toward the end. Her acting was worth a mention since it was quite convincing.

The only complaint I have for this series was probably seeing Fred Cheng as a small character in here. It was like wasting his acting for a role they can’t find to fill. But I guess he was busy filming other series? It better be. It would be a shame if he shifted down in the ladder again. Since he really has potential.

This was probably one of TVB’s biggest mistakes. This also explained why Marianne Chan quit acting. Seriously, she had never been given any types of strong role or a role worth her talent. (Aside from Mu Lan and this other role.) Although both Marianne and Anne did a great job portraying their roles–before and after the switch–but the plot lacked big time in development. Everything seemed to repeat itself. The scriptwriters found it funny or entertaining to bring down the majority of the characters’ IQ or something. It seemed impossible not to notice after so many times, especially how Ling Wun kept falling for Chor Chor’s schemes. Yes, she had a kind heart, but she was so naive to the point of stupidity that made it so annoying. Aside from the ongoing of the repetitive events, there were actually some good things coming out of it though a little too late.

The second generation with their sons was much faster for some reason, considering both sons were quite intelligent and knew what it took to end it all. It was much better to watch in a sense rather than continuing to see Ling Wun fall for Chor Chor’s traps over and over again.

The majority of the cast did a good job portraying their roles. But again, if the speed were faster and the plot improved, it would’ve been more bearable and believable.

It was a bit funny to see Kenneth Ma and some of the actors being cameo though. Charmaine Sheh even got an appearance at the beginning of the series, which made it WAY too funny yet she was so cute that was so hard to hate (since she was portraying Chor Chor).